About Tokyo Mothers Group

Tokyo Mothers Group is a support and networking group for English-speaking parents in and around Tokyo, although we do have members further afield as well. Our members come from all areas of the world and all walks of life, and it's great to be able to connect with such a wide variety of people.

Tokyo Mothers Group initially began in 2006 as an off-shoot of Tokyo Pregnancy Group and a way for those who had their babies to keep in touch and get together every now and then. At that time, it was known as Tokyo New Mothers Group for mums with babies up to a year old, and was only found through word of mouth as there was no website or Facebook group then.

I heard about it and joined when my first son was born and, together with another mother, took over as coordinator in 2008. At this point we decided to make a website so that we could be found more easily and we also changed our name to the Tokyo Mothers Group—still in use today—and opened the group up to all mothers/parents of children of any age.

As a group we hold casual get-togethers for parents and children, large seasonal events (such as Easter/Hanami, Halloween and Christmas parties), and occasional workshops on issues important to our members (often in collaboration with other organisations). There are also a variety of active playgroups run by TMG members for anyone looking for something in their specific area. In addition to this, we also have a Mentor Program for members who’d like personalized support or help with anything.

We currently have over 2,000 members on our website and more than 1,000 on the Facebook group. It’s great to be able to reach out to so many parents in Tokyo and help cultivate friendships. As we are run by volunteer coordinators, we welcome anyone who’d love to join our team either organising get-togethers or events or behind-the-scenes working on our website.